


Blind trust

by birdyhands



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Toph Beifong, Blindfolds, Canon Divergence, Canonical Child Abuse, Conversations, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s03e12 The Western Air Temple, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Panic Attacks, Partial Blindness, Past Child Abuse, Prisoner Zuko (Avatar), Scared Zuko, The Gaang Learns How Zuko Got The Scar (Avatar), Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph Being Awesome, Western Air Temple, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko (Avatar) whump, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), and doesn't trust zuko, it's Zuko y'all, katara is kinda mean, she's just protective of her family, zukka if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25235464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdyhands/pseuds/birdyhands
Summary: When Ozai burned Zuko at his agni kai, Zuko lost most of the vision in his left eye. When he is knocked unconscious and taken prisoner by the gaang at the western air temple, they blindfold him and Zuko wakes up terrified that he has lost his sight forever.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 115
Kudos: 2086
Collections: Quality Fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing, just here to write:)

Zuko took a deep breath, this wasn’t going at all how he had hoped. The avatar and his friends were harder to convince than he had anticipated and he was running out of options. Heart beating wildly he forced his limbs to obey, dropping to his knees in front of the small group and offering up his wrists. 

“If you won’t accept me as your friend, maybe you’ll take me as your prisoner.” 

A moment of silence, Zuko was sure they were trading nods or shaking heads silently determining what to do. His arms were trembling and he wasn’t sure what he wanted their answer to be. He had come here to join their group, but the list of his past mistakes that they had just thrown at him made him realize there was the possibility they wouldn’t be the gentlest captors. They had every reason to hate him. Zuko forced himself to remain as still as possible while they determined their verdict. 

The waterbender girl cleared her throat and Zuko peered up, head still slightly bowed, wrists still extended outward to be bound. 

“Fine. We’ll take you as our prisoner. You’ve already proven you’re too dangerous to be left on your own.”

Zuko bowed his head again showing his acceptance, but none of the group approached him for several seconds. He was just beginning to wonder what they were doing when a wave of water crashed over him throwing him backwards. He felt his head hit the ground, then nothing. 

***

Zuko woke slowly, his head pounding. He could hear distant voices but couldn’t understand the words they were speaking. His head was throbbing and the rest of his body felt like lead. He remembered the waterbender, or possibly the avatar, sending a wave crashing over him, throwing him harshly against the ground. Probably knocking him out had been their intention. 

Bracing himself for the sharp pain he was certain would come when he opened his eyes Zuko slowly pried open his left eye first. Nothing. Just blackness. The vision in his left eye had never fully returned after his agni kai, but he could usually see somewhat. Nervously, Zuko opened both eyes fully but only darkness greeted him. 

Feeling panic rising in him, Zuko tried to raise his hands to his eyes, but quickly realized that his arms had been bound in what felt like stone behind him. His legs were also bound at the ankles. Fighting his way to kneeling Zuko struggled against the restraints becoming more and more panicked as his fighting led him nowhere. 

He was blind. 

Thinking the words filled him with despair and Zuko slumped over still pulling weekly at the stone that kept him bound. 

His father had started the job with Zuko on his knees pleading that he was Ozai’s loyal son. Now, Zuko had abandoned his father, pledging his loyalty to the avatar and the avatar had finished the job. 

The unfairness of it cut Zuko deep. They couldn’t be like his father. If the avatar and his friends were as bad as his father there was nowhere left for Zuko to turn. Sobbing freely Zuko dropped his head to his knees. He had never felt so scared and alone. Even after his agni kai his uncle Iroh had been there for him. Now Zuko had nothing. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t bend. He was truly helpless. Curled into himself Zuko’s body wracked with sobs until his ribs ached. 

***

“Hey, uh guys? Zuko’s kinda freaking out,” Toph interrupted the group’s discussion on the various merits of different kinds of soups. 

“He’ll be fine, Toph.” Katara’s voice was bored as she answered.

“No, I mean he’s really freaking out- he’s terrified! I think he’s hyperventilating.”

“I’ll go check on him.” Sokka relented, getting to his feet. 

“I’ll come too. Just in case…” Toph offered.

***

Zuko could hear footsteps and voices approaching and his sobbing only intensified panic welling up greater in his chest. He could hear what must be the door to his room slide open and then there was a hand on his shoulder.

“Wh-What do you want?” Zuko managed to growl in between sobbing breaths.

“Umm… are you...okay?” 

The voice belonged to the water tribe boy Zuko thought. Zuko let out a hollow humorless laugh. What kind of question was that? Of course he wasn’t okay. None of this was okay. 

“What’s wrong?” The water tribe boy tried again

“I-I-I can’t see.” Zuko sobbed quietly.

“Welcome to the club sparky” a new voice said and Zuko recognized it as the earthbender girl. She was blind? 

The water tribe boy cut back in “yeah well we thought you’d be less of a threat if we blindfolded you… is that seriously it?”

Zuko’s breathing caught “blindfold?” he asked after a moment of silence, his sobbing had stopped and his voice sounded surprised and hopeful.

“Uh yeah… ya know piece of fabric you tie it around people’s eyes so they can’t see…?”

“I… yeah I know what a blindfold is,” Zuko replied dazedly, feeling like he was going to cry again, from relief this time.

“Sokka, uh his heart rate just calmed way down… I think he thought we had you know... blinded him.” the girl said and Zuko was glad he didn’t have to explain it. The nerve damage from his old burn was probably why he hadn’t felt the blindfold. He wasn’t blind. He wasn’t blind. He was going to see again. 

“Can you take it off, pl-please?” Zuko was ready to beg if he needed to. The girl was right, hearing that it was just a blindfold was about the best thing that had happened to him all day, but he needed the proof. 

There was a moment of silence and then “don’t try anything” and he could feel hands at the back of his head untying a knot. 

When the fabric fell away Zuko couldn’t contain his relief and within seconds he was crying again. This time though he could see the light of sunset streaming in through the high windows to the stone room and his tears made his vision slightly blurry. All the fear he had felt earlier felt as though it was being washed away and Zuko slumped over still crying simply from the barrage of emotions today had brought. It had been three years since he had cried like this, but now that he had started it was like he couldn’t stop. 

The water tribe boy wrapped an arm around his shoulders and Zuko didn’t have the energy to find it anything but comforting. 

“I know you’re our prisoner, but you know we’d never hurt you like that, right? We’re just trying to be cautious. We can’t fully trust you yet, but you’re our responsibility now and we’re going to keep you safe, okay?”

Zuko was finally regaining his composure bit by bit and he sniffed and nodded against the water tribe boy’s shoulder knowing he was going to have to explain his fear and reaction eventually.

Right now though, he was content to lean against the water tribe boy and take comfort in the safety he offered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, this is my first atla fic and my first fic that I've written for any fandom in a couple of years, so sorry if it's a little rough:) I write what I want to read so feel free to use my work as inspiration if you'd like to!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara is not happy about Sokka and Toph's decision to forgo the blindfold and insists that Zuko will be blindfolded at least during mealtimes. The eventual confrontation over breakfast leads to the gaang learning more than they expected about their prisoner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I listened to the people, here is part 2! Little less hurt more comfort in this one:)

Zuko felt pathetically grateful when Sokka and Toph left the blindfold off when they left that night. Even as the darkness of night closed in, the faint moonlight from the high window of his cell was comfort enough. Toph had spent some time recreating a set of much lighter thinner shackles from metal that allowed Zuko some range of motion and the ability to curl up fairly comfortably under the blanket they had left him and while his status as a prisoner still rankled him, Zuko felt much better that night. The day had been a whirlwind of emotions and he was too exhausted to sort through them all at the moment but his fear and discomfort had both been diminished quite a bit since he had woken up earlier and he found himself drifting into a dreamless sleep.

Zuko found himself woken abruptly in the morning and it was a testament to how exhausted he had been the night before that the waterbender was awake before him. She was bursting into his room turned cell with Toph opening the wall of earth serving as a door. 

“I’m telling you Katara, he wasn’t plotting anything- he was terrified!”

“And I’m telling you that he can’t be trusted! He offered to be our prisoner and that means we’ll blindfold him if we decide it’s necessary!”

The waterbending girl, Katara, Zuko reminded himself, punctuated this statement with a glare directed at Zuko whose mind was still trying to catch up after the sudden wake up call. All the fog of sleep vanished immediately when Katara moved towards him holding what he recognized as the blindfold from the day before. Before he could think on it Zuko was already scrambling backwards along the floor. By now the rest of the avatar’s small group was huddled in the doorway seemingly unsure how to react to the fierce argument between the earth and water benders. 

Zuko found Sokka’s eyes and looked pleadingly to the boy who had comforted him the day before and Sokka moved forward hesitantly as Zuko hit the wall, running out of space to back away from the blindfold held in Katara’s fist. Sokka made his way across the room to lay a protective hand on Zuko’s shoulder. 

“Katara, Toph is right. There’s no way someone as proud as Princey here would fake something like that. I really don’t think the blindfold is necessary if it’s gonna stress him out so much.”

Katara looked unconvinced. “This isn’t about his comfort. He offered to be our prisoner and there’s no reason for him to be so freaked out by a little piece of fabric! We can keep it off the rest of the time when he’s in here but when he’s joining us for meals it goes on. I don’t want him getting any ideas.”

Zuko was staring resolutely at the floor. Despite it being the last thing he wanted to do, he could see that the waterbender wasn’t going to settle for anything less than having him blindfolded. It wouldn’t be for long. Just meal times. He could handle that. Sokka was about to argue again but Zuko beat him to it.

“Okay.” his voice was small and he winced at how defeated he sounded. 

“There, see, that wasn’t so hard.” the waterbender said almost cruelly and wasted no time in striding the rest of the way over to Zuko. 

Zuko was slightly surprised but grateful when Sokka took the blindfold from her hands and with a small sigh began to gently wrap the fabric around Zuko’s head, securing it with a knot at the back. The earthbender approached him when he was sightless once again and Zuko felt her small hands bending the metal of the shackles so that his hands were now attached in front of him. 

Keeping his breath as steady as possible, reminding himself that he could see, this was just a piece of fabric, Zuko allowed Sokka to guide him with one hand on his shoulder, the other on the chain of his shackles to the area where the group must be eating. He was guided down to the ground and a moment later a warm bowl was pressed into his hands. 

The group ate without much conversation although Zuko assumed that was only due to his presence and even through the blindfold he could feel their eyes boring into him every time he moved to take a swallow from the bowl of some sort of thin porridge. Zuko felt exposed, his skin prickling as if to warn him that he was being watched, heart beating fast and nervous, hands shaking slightly. The silence wasn’t helping in the least and Zuko was struggling to maintain control of his breathing.

You’re okay breathe in 

It’s only a blindfold breathe out 

They’re not going to hurt you breathe in

You’re not blind breathe out

But the lack of sound to give context to his racing mind wasn’t helping his spiraling thoughts. He wasn’t feeling hungry anymore, his stomach feeling as jittery as the rest of him and after several minutes of failing to reassure both his mind and body that he was safe Zuko finally got up the courage to speak.

“Could umm someone take me back to my room? I’m finished.” He stated proud of the way his voice barely wavered at all despite his inner turmoil.

“Is my cooking not good enough for his royal highness?” It was the same sneering voice the waterbender had used in his cell earlier.

“No umm… the food is fine I’m just not feeling well,” he gulped hoping he hadn’t insulted her cooking too badly.

“If you're not feeling well then you can just wait out here. One of us will take you back once we’re done eating.” 

Her tone allowed no room for argument, but feeling more desperate by the second Zuko spoke out anyway, “please I’d just really like to be able to see again.” his head was bowed in shame or submission he couldn’t have said.

“We’ll be done in just a few minutes.” Her voice was sharp and this time Zuko merely swallowed in response. 

Not a full minute later Zuko could feel his breath control slipping again as his eyes blinked furiously against the cloth still unable to see anything. 

“Please”

“I’m not finished eating yet.”

Zuko counted at least two more minutes before he hesitantly pleaded again and was met with the same answer. No one else had spoken and Zuko was sure that at least one of the group had to be finished by now. Anger was beginning to join the fear and desperation and he couldn’t take it anymore. He lifted his hands, grasped the blindfold, and yanked it down until it sat loose around his neck. Zuko took in the sight before him, the morning sun streaming in through the open front of the temple, the air bison lounging near the entrance, the shocked faces of the avatar and the water tribe boy, the almost pleased face of the earthbender, and the absolutely furious face of the waterbender. 

He didn’t even care how mad Katara was at that moment he was too pleased with being able to see her angry face at all. His relief however was short-lived as she stormed over to him, eyes flashing and yanked him to his feet, stumbling around the chains on his ankles.

“Aang help me put the prisoner back?”

“Katara, maybe we’re over reacting. What’s he going to do chained up like that anyway?” the soft voice of the airbender argued. 

“He’s clearly got some sort of plan or he wouldn’t be so adamant about not being blindfolded!”

“I just don’t like not being able to see” Zuko responded quietly, his arm still in a death grip from the waterbender. 

“Yeah well you’re going to have to do some things that you don’t really like if this is going to work out.”

“It’s not… I don’t just not like it, it makes me panicky. Please I just…” Zuko took a deep breath “I have some unpleasant memories and being blindfolded brings them back. I’m not trying to be difficult, I swear.”

“Truth” says the earthbender and Katara sends her a doubtful look.

“Fine. What memories.” Katara’s voice is sharp as she pushes Zuko back to the floor. 

Zuko wasn’t expecting that. He’s unprepared but in his moment of surprise he answers honestly, “when I got this,” he gestures to the scar on his face, “I couldn’t see for a while, my eyes were too damaged. I’ve been terrified of losing my sight ever since.” 

Now it’s the earthbender who interrupts, “when you got what? Your face?”

“My scar.”

“You have a scar?” 

“I got burned.”

“Oh, how’d that happen? I thought firebenders didn’t burn easily.”

Zuko is shocked once again. By their expressions he doesn’t think any of them know how he got it and he’s not sure if telling them will help his case or just make things worse for himself. 

“Training accident.”

“Lie.” 

“You want us to trust you? Tell us the truth about your scar. How are we supposed to let you join our group if you won’t even trust us enough to tell us the truth about how you managed to get half your face burnt off?” the waterbender reasons harshly. 

Zuko sighs. 

“It’s personal. I’d rather not.”

“Okay well I’d rather you not be able to see when we bring you out here to eat. Guess that’s all settled.”

“Fine.” Zuko’s teeth are grinding against each other. He’s still chained up, they’re keeping him in an earthbended cell, it’s not like being able to see his food is what’s going to take down the avatar. It doesn’t matter. He’s not in charge here.

“When I was 13 I spoke out of turn in a war meeting to try to keep a general from sacrificing an entire battalion of new recruits and got challenged to an agni kai that ended up being against my father instead of the general like I thought and I didn’t fight him I just begged on my knees for him to forgive me and he burned half my face off and I haven’t been able to see out of my left eye hardly at all since then and I spent the first weeks of my banishment with bandages over both my eyes while I was healing and it was horrible and painful and I’m scared of losing my sight, okay?”

His breath is coming out ragged. He knows it was a callous telling at best, but they don’t need to know any more than that. They haven’t earned anything. They don’t say anything either. Not for a long stretching minute. 

Sokka breaks the silence first, “buddy that’s terrible. I’m sorry that happened to you, you didn’t deserve it.”

Zuko’s face must be showing more emotion than he intends because when he meets Sokka’s eyes they turn from shocked and horrified to warm and comforting. 

Toph seeming to have caught something else from it wrinkles her nose and asks “your banishment?” 

“Yeah… you know… prince Zuko, banished prince of the fire nation?” 

“If you were banished why were you even coming after us? I just assumed that was like a loyalty to the fire nation thing.”

“It was- uh that is… the only way I could go back was if I brought the avatar back in chains. That’s… you don’t have to worry about that now though. Even if I did bring you back as my prisoner I’d never be welcomed back by my father.”

He’s trying to be reassuring but none of them look especially comforted. Zuko shifts awkwardly, bunching the chain of his shackles in his hands. 

“Okay that’s enough.” Toph states matter-of-factly and stands up to approach the prisoner. 

Zuko’s mouth is dry but to his surprise when she grabs the chain of his shackles she doesn’t haul him to his feet or anything of the sort. She bends the metal away from his wrists and then grabs the chain at his feet doing the same before discarding both pieces of metal on the ground. 

“He’s being honest and I think that’s more than enough explanation for why he was hunting us down in the first place. There’s no reason for us to keep treating him like a prisoner when he could be teaching Aang how to firebend. Welcome to the team, Sparky.”

Even Katara nods albeit reluctantly at her assessment and while Zuko is sure it’s going to be a while before he’s really a part of their group, he’s not going to question the decision.

“That’s really brave of you to come help us after all of that. Thanks for offering to teach me firebending.” Aang pulls him aside to tell him later. 

Katara, while still defensive of her actions, tells him that she’s glad he told them the truth and she’s sorry he’s had such a rough go of it.  
That night after helping with dinner and dishes Zuko settles down in the main area of the temple with the others and Sokka separates the double layers of his sleeping mat to let Zuko sleep next to him rather than on the hard stone floor. 

He’s still exhausted, but the small apologies and assurances offered to him by the group throughout the day have lifted Zuko’s spirits considerably. His future here looks far more promising than it did before and strangely more than it ever did back home in the palace. For once he feels at peace with himself as he drifts off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Anyone interested in a part 3 involving a heart-to-heart between Zuko and Toph about blindness let me know in the comments!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph continues to be an amazing bender, slightly out of touch with her feelings, and willing to do anything for her friends. Zuko is now included on that list so she's here to help him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has enjoyed and responded to this story, it makes me so happy to see how many people have enjoyed reading something I wrote:D This chapter took a little longer than I expected, but I hope you all enjoy some Toph and Zuko bonding!

It had been over a week since Zuko was taken prisoner by the avatar’s group and by now “prisoner” had become one of Toph’s joking nicknames rather than an indicator of his actual status within the group. It was his turn to cook tonight and the scent of grilled meats and vegetables slowly lured the rest of the group towards the open area where they had meals. 

Zuko held his hand out over the pan focusing on the heat to determine if the meat was fully cooked. Once he was satisfied he began scooping the food into bowls. Aang finally joined the rest of their group, smiling brightly as Zuko reheated a bowl of rice and vegetables that he had assembled for the airbender before adding the meat to the pan. 

They ate amicably around the fire, the conversation flowing much easier than the first few meals which Zuko had joined them for which had been painfully quiet. Toph was showing off her surprisingly tasteful artistic talent by forming the stone around them into little figurines of whatever the group requested. Curious, Zuko took to shaping the tendrils of the fire they were gathered around as best he could into distinctive shapes. 

It wasn’t easy, and even when Zuko managed to form the flames into the image he wanted, they didn’t stay for long. Sokka, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth appeared even more concentrated on the display than Zuko himself was.

“Okay, what’s sparky doing that’s so much more interesting than me?” Toph’s tone was light and teasing as she hit the heel of her hand into the ground creating a slab of rock for her to recline against.

“Just making pictures out of fire!” Sokka said in a voice much louder than necessary for how close their group was huddled. 

The night slowly dwindles down with lighthearted banter and appraisal of artistic talent until one by one the group makes their way to the hall full of bedrolls.

Zuko had thought he was the only one still at the fire, and it’s uncharacteristic of Toph to stay quiet for so long, so he jumps a bit when she talks. 

“I wish I could see your fire pictures-- that sounds like it would look really cool.”

Zuko frowns. It’s easy to forget that Toph is blind when it often seems like she’s got the best vision of the entire group. 

“Being blind does kinda suck sometimes,” she admits and Zuko is surprised. Until now Toph’s blindness had seemed only to be a point of pride for her in an I’m blind and can still kick your ass and I’m still the best earthbender in the world kind of way. He’s not sure what to say to that, but Toph doesn’t give him much of a window anyway. 

“Obviously I can get over a lot of the limitations of it because I can use earthbending to sense what’s around me, but there are plenty of things earthbending can’t do. I can’t read and I don’t know what colors look like and I can’t see when we’re flying and I can’t see your fire pictures. I don’t even know what any of you guys look like other than apparently you’ve got a scar and Aang has tattoos… hell I don’t even know what I look like!” Her eyes are wide the way they always get when she makes jokes about her blindness. 

Zuko wants to apologize, but he’s gotten to know Toph fairly well over the last week and he’s sure that even though it feels like the right thing to say, she wouldn’t appreciate it. He hums instead, a noncommittal sound of general understanding. 

“Being blind isn’t scary for me like it is for you because I’ve never been able to see. I mean, it’s scary when we’re flying or somewhere I can’t see at all, but normally it’s not something I’m afraid of because I’ve learned how to adapt to it.”

She seems like she’s getting to the point of her bringing this up now, giving Zuko knowing looks like she is expecting him to get something profound out of it. 

“How did you learn to see using earthbending anyway?” Zuko asks because she seems to be waiting for him to say something and he’s been curious about the young girl who uses earthbending in ways he didn’t know were possible like seeing and bending metal. 

Now the pride he associates with the girl has returned in full and she’s grinning widely as she explains. 

“I learned from the badger moles. They’re the original earthbenders. They’re blind too and when I ran away from home when I was little I came across some of them. I could feel their movements in the ground and realized that when I moved like they did I could feel my surroundings more accurately.”

Zuko had made a note to himself early after meeting Toph that appealing to her ego seemed to be the way to get on her goodside. He hasn’t even had to fake it once though, the girl is unbelievably talented. He doesn’t doubt it for a second when she’s proclaimed herself the best earthbender in the world. 

“That’s amazing. I never realized sight was one of the original purposes of earthbending.” He doesn’t even try to mask the awe and envy in his voice. 

“I was thinking about it earlier when you were cooking.”

Zuko tilts his head in confusion. 

“It’s not that much of a stretch to think you could use your bending to see like I do.”

Now he’s really lost. 

“I’m not an earthbender though… It’s not as though there’s just fire everywhere that I can use to see.”

“Think harder Sparky, what else do you use your firebending for besides creating fire.”

“Umm… heat I guess?” 

“Exactly! I was watching you earlier while you were cooking, you kept holding your hand towards the meat to see if it was done, right?

“Yeah… yeah I guess I was… you don’t think I could see by sensing heat… do you?”

Toph shrugged, “you’ll never know until you try, Sparky. Close your eyes.”

So Zuko does. He closes his eyes and takes deep controlled breaths and focuses on the heat of his own body before hesitantly holding out his hands in front of him in the direction Toph had been. For a moment he thinks it won’t work, he can’t sense her there, it feels like open air in front of him. Focusing all his concentration into his surroundings Zuko suddenly feels it. A small earthbender sized concentration of heat several feet to the left of where Toph had been. Whirling suddenly, eyes flying open in surprise Zuko comes face to face with the grinning earthbender.

“How… how did you know that would work?” Zuko’s voice was full of amazement. The concept of it makes sense to him, but he doubted he would ever have thought to try something like this on his own.

Toph just shrugs, “I didn’t know it would work, just like I didn’t know it would work the first time I tried to metalbend, it was just a guess. Besides, it’s not like it’s the first time you’ve used other bending styles to improve your firebending, you told Aang that redirecting lightning was based on waterbending, I figured earthbending might be useful too.”

She’s trying to look nonchalant about the whole thing like it’s no big deal, but Zuko’s in awe. It’s easy to forget how powerful this girl sometimes, but Zuko privately thinks she’s a genius in addition to her raw strength. 

“Thanks Toph, that’s umm… kinda amazing.”

“Save it Sparky you can repay me later. Sugar Queen is trying to get me on dish duty again tomorrow. You take that and we’ll consider it even.”

She’s pleased with herself though Zuko can tell. He figures she doesn’t know how visible blushing is on her porcelain skin, but he figures he’ll allow her to seem aloof and unfazed if she wants. 

“Thank you.” he says one more time before they make their way to the sleeping quarters where everyone else is already snoring. 

The next morning Zuko doesn’t light a fire during his morning meditation but instead sits a little ways away from the bed roll he shares with Sokka and concentrates on the warmth emanating from his figure. When Sokka wakes up an hour later and stretches, Zuko tracks the movement behind his closed eyes, smiling and allowing a different sort of warmth to bloom in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you to everyone who has read this! I live for comments, so let me know what you liked/didn't like etc.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey hey! If you liked this fic (or didn’t like it but liked the premise lol) you might like the fic _Prying_ by cantget__gEESE on this site, it’s the same premise, but we stumbled on the idea separately so their fic does differ quite a bit!


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